Rector's Reflection – 20 Pentecost, Proper 24
October 18, 2009
Remember last week when Job could not find God? We heard a bit of Job's lament and
we felt Job's loneliness in the face of an absent God. Fifteen chapters have intervened since then
and Job has spent some more time talking about the world according to Job.
Well, this Sunday God is elusive no more. Job has spent considerable time shaking his
fist, defending himself, arguing with his overly-pious friends. But starting now Job may be
wondering if it was a good idea to demand his day in court with God. Rolling down like thunder
out of the whirlwind comes a barrage of questions: "were you there at the beginning?"... "who
has the wisdom to number the clouds?"... "can you provide food for lions and such?"
In this rather startling turn of events, Job may be rethinking his previous speeches. If God
makes nothing else clear, he very vividly reminds Job (and us!) who's the creator and who's the
createe. This is God's world, not Job's world. This is God's design, not Job's design.
God's pronouncements out of the whirlwind are probably not the favorite Bible verses for
scientists whose theories about the creation of the world fall outside of a theological setting. God
reminds Job (and us!) that, although there may be various theories and deductions about creation
through the ages, there's only one eyewitness... and it's not Job... or us.
I came across a piece about social activist and UCC minister William Sloan Coffin.
There are lots of Coffin quotations out and about, but this incident really struck me and, for me,
it puts a new perspective on Job.
When Coffin was an undergraduate at Yale, three of his friends died in a tragic
automobile accident. At the funeral, Coffin was infuriated by the piety of the priest as he quoted
from Job, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Coffin
considered tripping the priest as he processed out, but as he was about to stick out his foot, a
small voice asked him, "What part of the phrase, Coffin, are you objecting to?" Coffin says that
he thought it was the last part about 'taketh away.'
"Then suddenly it dawned on me," Coffin says, "that I was protesting the first: "the Lord
giveth." It hit me hard that it was not my world; that at best we were all guests. And "the Lord
giveth" was a statement against which all the spears of human pride have to be hurled and
shattered."
When I first encountered this story, I have to admit that I was tempted initially to say "how obvious" to Coffin's epiphany that 'it was not my world'... but the words wouldn't come
because it hit me hard that it's not my world either.
Susan+
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